The Madmen
by Marine Amber
Summary: Combine the obvious madman Casey Jones and the not-so-obvious (but secretly) madman Leonardo. The result? A not so average friendship that can only result in trouble. (A series of one shots focusing on the relationship between Leo and Casey.)
1. Nicknames

**This has been going around in my head for awhile so I decided to write it out. It's going to be a bunch of random one shots focusing on the relationship between Leo and Casey since the two don't get enough interaction even though I think they can relate a lot. This takes place in the 2012 series during the 3rd season while Leo is still recovering.**

**Disclaimer: TMNT belongs to its respective owners.**

"That one looks like a sword."

"Well that one looks like a shiny new motorcycle."

"I didn't know clouds could be shiny."

"Shut it blue."

To anyone, the pair would be nothing but odd. One, a troublesome looking teenager with a large gap between his teeth. The other a giant humanoid turtle sporting nothing but knee and elbow-pads, along with a blue bandana. To even their friends, just seeing the pair together would be odd. But relaxing in the warm sun doing nothing but the childish game of finding objects molded by clouds was all they would rather be doing at the moment.

"Just cause I'm wearing a blue bandana doesn't mean you have to call me blue."

"Why not? You _are _wearing blue, so it only makes sense."

Turning his questioning gaze to his companion, Leo smirked. "But April has red hair and you call her red. She can't take off her hair like I can take off my mask." And to prove his point, the turtle untied the knot and held up his blue mask.

Casey shrugged. "Well even so, your eyes are blue."

"So are Mikey's."

Giving Leo a playful punch, Casey laughed. "Yeah, but he wears orange."

Leo frowned. "You don't make sense Casey."

"I usually don't try to." The human smirked. "But it makes sense to me."

With another sigh, Leo turned his gaze back up to the clouds. "I'll keep that in mind."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, quickly lulled by the singing birds and tickling breeze. A green hand suddenly shot up. "That one looks like a tree, toothless."

Casey quickly turned his gaze to the turtle. "Did you seriously just call me toothless?"

Leo shrugged. "Well you _are _missing several front teeth. Unless you want me to call you something else."

"Uh, yeah dude. I don't want the same name as a kid movie character. Give me a cool nickname."

"A cool nickname? Okay." Leo tapped his chin. "How about punch-out? Maybe the skull kid? Umm, what else?"

Casey groaned. "Just stop already Leo."

Leo gave a small pout. "Fine Kyōjin."

"Wait what does that mean?"

Leo gave an indifferent shrug, but smirked at Casey. "Madman."

Casey scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever blue."

**Following the story and favoriting are greatly appreciated. You can leave a review with any suggestions you have as well to give me more ideas, as long as they focus on Leo and Casey.**


	2. Siblings

**Since** **they're so short, I might decide to write two at a time. These really don't have any sort of time frames and are more just me writing for fun. Leave a review, follow, or favorite if you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: TMNT belongs to its respective owners.**

"You don't know difficult until you've had to take care of three younger brothers Kyōjin."

Casey laughed. "Sure, but you've never dealt with a bratty younger sister. Girls are ten times worse than boys are."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Just so you know, I have dealt with a six-year-old girl before and it wasn't that bad. All she did was make me stay for a tea party."

"How did you meet a little girl? And why were you having a tea party with her?" Casey asked, scrunching his eyebrows together.

"Long story," Leo sighed. "But you'll probably hear it someday."

"Well you better tell me sometime blue. I'm having a hard time imagining you sitting and drinking tea with a random little girl. But I bet you've never had to deal with a younger sister who gets obsessed over her favorite movie characters." Casey challenged with a grin.

Leo smiled back. "Oh really? Have you ever seen Mikey's room?"

Casey opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it. "Good point."

The two sat in silence for a bit. Their other four companions were out training after Leo urged them to stay in shape and burn off energy, as Mikey had literally been bouncing off the walls earlier. Only the two were sitting inside, enjoying the almost normal atmosphere the house gave off.

"So have you ever had to deal with watching your younger sibling while your father is out getting food when they only want to wander out of your home?" Leo asked suddenly.

Casey rolled his eyes. "You bet I have blue. My little sister never listened to anything I said."

"Well how about trying to get them all to go to sleep when your father comes home late?"

"You have no idea man. Our dad always had to work late cause he was raising us himself, but she would only either ignore me or try to start a fight." Casey admitted. "Eventually I just gave up."

Leo nodded. "Yeah, I could see that. So what else has she done?"\

Casey scratched his chin. "Um, well she tried sneaking out of the house a couple times when the rest of us were sleeping, ran off when my dad was buying groceries, basically doing anything she wasn't supposed to be doing."

"They always seem to have a hard time listening." Leo agreed. "But she kinda sounds like you."

Casey gave him a quick glare before laughing. "Well she learned from the best."

Leo rolled his eyes, and the two settled into silence again.

"They never really figure out we're just trying to look out for them. That we're just trying to protect them y'know?"

Casey gave a small smile, but his eyes looked distant as if searching for his lost sister. "You know I do blue."


	3. Problems

To say Casey Jones was pissed was an understatement. He was _infuriated._

Sure he had helped stop Shredder and his goons from taking control of the Auman Plant that Hun had showed to Shredder, but he did next to nothing in the fight that had taken place there. Whilst his turtle friends took on the other mutants and Shredder, Casey felt like he had drawn the short straw while battling Hun. Sure the Asian man had skills, but he didn't seem as dangerous as Saki, Tiger Claw, Rahzar, or even Fishface. He had celebrated his win with his reptilian friends with his usual toothy grin, but it just didn't feel the same. It felt a lot like when the turtles had gone to Dimension X and saved New York City, along with probably the whole world, while he played backseat sidekick. The thought made him want to hit someone. So that's what he was currently doing.

New York City had never been the safest, but after the invasion Casey couldn't tell if it was worse or miraculously better. He was leaning towards the worse.

His current battle was against the normal group of Purple Dragons, without their skilled leader. The fight wasn't strenuous on Casey, and that made his anger rise. With a swift uppercut of his adored hockey stick, Casey wiped out Fong and watched with a smoldering glare as the dragons fell in a heap.

"You guys are pathetic." He grumbled, hitting a puck at them for good measure. To his annoyance, he missed and hit a trash can instead.

"Oh come on!" He yelled, stomping over to the trash can. "Why can't I be good at _anything?_"  
With a final shout, he shoved the full can over, scaring a stray cat that jumped onto his head and tipped him over as it bounded off. Casey landed on the ground hard and threw down his hockey stick. Fortunately, it didn't break on its impact.

Casey looked over his shoulder only to find that the Purple Dragons had ran off during his little tantrum, and with another grumble, Casey put his head into his hands. The agitated teen let out a sharp breath and stayed sitting in the alley. He ignored the faint rumbling of traffic echoing off the dark buildings and the small squeaks of rats digging around in a nearby dumpster. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!" He grumbled to himself.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there alone. The cool breeze that early hadn't affected him was now starting to bother the teen, and he knew that if April were here, she would be scolding him for going to catch a cold. But even the thought of the pretty redhead didn't cheer him up. Casey continued to dwell in his thoughts, ignoring his surroundings.

"Hey there Kyōjin."

Casey jumped, almost ready to stand and whack the person who had snuck up on him, but the familiar nickname calmed him slightly.

With a small lift of his hand in greeting, though he didn't turn around and look up at where the voice had come from. Only the small "thump" behind him alerted Casey that his turtle friend had landed behind him.

"Hey Leo." He said in greeting.

Casey could almost feel the frown on Leo's face. "Leo? No Blue tonight?" He shook his head slightly.

Leo quietly sat beside him, though Casey didn't meet his gaze. "Is something bothering you?" Casey replied with a small shrug of his shoulders.

Now Leo knew something was wrong. "You're never this quiet Casey. So I know there _is_ something bothering you. Care to elaborate?"

Casey didn't respond.

With a small sigh, Leo tapped his chin. "Well it looks like you were just doing your vigilante stuff. Probably fighting off a group of guys robbing a place, so maybe the Purple Dragons?" Casey didn't respond except for a small shiver from the cool night air. "Hm, so I'm thinking you beat whoever it was since you seem pretty normal except for the zero talking. You don't look like you got beat up either. The only thing is that you seem pretty tense for some reason." Leo looked at Casey expectantly, but was given no response. The turtle sighed in exasperation. "Okay, so I'm pretty sure that's what happened. And now that I look at it, your mask has a couple scratches. Cat scratches I'm thinking."

Casey finally glanced up at him and furrowed his brows. "What?"

Leo shrugged, giving him a small smile. "Hey when your little bro is a cat fanatic, you become pretty good at knowing if a scratch is a cat scratch." His ocean blue eyes drifted to Casey's abandoned hockey stick and his frown returned. Gently, the blue-clad turtle reached out for the stick and picked it up. He held it up to examine it, noticing Casey's watching gaze. Leo flashed him another smile. "Now there has to be something wrong if your favorite piece of wood is laying around like trash."

Casey turned his eyes back to the ground. Leo frowned again. He never was all that great at lightening someone's mood. "Alright Case, what's bothering you?"

The human teen narrowed his eyes a bit. "Why does something have to be wrong?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Well I did just mention a few things as to why something would be bothering you. You can't exactly say nothing's wrong."

"Well I can and I am." Casey huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Leo let out a small laugh. "Gee Case, you don't need to pout."

Casey gave an indignant squawk. "Hey. I am not pouting!"

"Sure Casey. And I'm a flying purple pig." The turtle scoffed at him. His eyes softened a bit. "But seriously Casey, what's bothering you?"

The human teen said nothing. He tried to blot out the sympathetic blue eyes watching him and focused on a small ant crawling on the ground.

Seeing that Casey wasn't going to confess anytime soon, Leo slightly leaned against the vigilante. "Y'know Casey, I think I know what you might be going through." He turned his head a bit to see the human's expression. Seeing nothing, the turtle continued. "Back at the farmhouse, a few days after I woke up and we got rid of that plant monster, I realized something. Sure I had freed you guys and we all stopped it, but I felt odd. I didn't think anything of it for awhile, and just worried about getting my leg all healed up. It was when I saw the five you training that I realized what it was. I felt useless."

Casey glanced up at that. "What do you mean?"

Leo shrugged. "Well I guess I was pretty used to leading the team and making sure my brothers were safe y'know? And then basically I had no idea where we were and what we were supposed do to. Those few days I just couldn't figure it all out. I knew that you were all training for when we went back to New York City, but I had no idea what _I_ was supposed to do. I couldn't walk without a crutch. I couldn't go out and tell you all what to do. I couldn't do anything."

Casey frowned. "C'mon Blue. You were injured!"

Leo gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I know. But I wasn't used to it. None of us were I think. Even growing up me and my brothers had never been hurt to the extent where we couldn't walk right." The smile left the turtle's face. "I felt useless. I felt like no matter what I did, it didn't compare to what the rest of you were doing. All the five of you needed really was a plan to save NYC, but me? I needed _months_ just to sit in a bathtub unconscious and leave the rest of you to wonder whether I would live or not. I needed help getting up and down the stairs those first couple of days after I woke up. I needed you guys to do pretty much everything for me because I was too useless to do it myself." He scoffed, bitterness dripping off his words.

"Don't talk like that!" Casey exclaimed, surprising both himself and the turtle beside him. He quieted his voice a bit. "C'mon Leo, you know that it wasn't your fault. None of those injuries were."

The turtle shrugged slightly. "So what? I still had to deal with them. I still made the rest of you guys deal with me."

Casey glared at him. "We didn't deal with you Leo. We helped you because we wanted to. Just because you weren't at your best at the leader of the pack doesn't mean you were useless. I mean who stopped that Chimaeron thing? Who found whatever spirit mumbo jumbo in the forest? Who made all the joy in the world come back to his brothers when he finally woke up?"

Leo glanced at him. "I didn't know you were so motivational Jones."

The human teen lightly punched him. "Shut up Blue. You know that it's true."

The two sat in silence for a bit, not focusing on each other. Leo finally broke the silence. "Do you see what I mean know Casey?"

Casey looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Leo gave him a small smile. "I know that you're still bothered about the whole being left out of the Invasion thing."

The vigilante weakly shrugged. "Yeah but what do I have to complain about? I wasn't needed..."

"Of course you were." Leo scoffed, surprising Casey. "We would never have even gotten back to the city without you."

"But-"

"I mean who rammed through the gate to get back into the city? Who helped stop those Dream Beavers back from killing us? Who found out about Shredder's plan to use mind control?"

Casey opened his mouth to argue, but the words left him. What could he say? He might not have been the greatest hero, but Leo did have a point.

He gave a small smile to the turtle. "Thanks Leo."

Leo returned the smile. "No problem Case."

The two returned to silence. But now they focused on each other, and Leo moved closer to the human. "It's kind of cold out here." He simply said.

Casey let his usual grin return, and reached out to grab his hockey stick. "Hey Blue? Want to warm up by pummeling some bad guys?"

Leo gave him an equally cheeky smile. "I thought you'd never ask Kyōjin."


	4. Slick

**It's been awhile since I've posted anything, but I've been working on a couple of these oneshots. These are a lot of fun to write and there are just so many things to do with them. This one just sorta came to me, and this is what ended up.**

He was never one for large groups. He was fine with the little celebrations Mikey would randomly decide to throw, but he wasn't used to any group larger than five or six. He gambled that was why he was looking for his vigilante friend instead of socializing with other mutants.

A few weeks after the saving of New York City, Mikey had suddenly exclaimed that they should celebrate. He, along with his other brothers and father, had agreed. It was then that he had faltered in his acceptance of his baby brother's idea. "Let's invite Kurtzman and the Might Mutanimals!" Mikey had said.

Raph had instantly agreed, wanting a chance to talk with Slash again. Donnie had rubbed his hands together and claimed it was the perfect opportunity to get back at that monkey. Mikey had just been excited for a chance to hang out with Leatherhead again. When April had found out, she had asked to bring her father, saying she'd also like to talk to Kurtzman. Raph had then joked Leo would have a great time hanging out with Pigeon Pete (to which he had rolled his eyes). Even Splinter had thought it was a good idea.

Leo hadn't liked the idea, as he had no real connection to any of the mutants. Not to mention he didn't fully trust Slash still either.

The whole idea just didn't sit well with him.

The night of the party had come much too soon for the blue-clad turtle, though his brothers would highly disagree. Mikey had outdone himself, by decorating to make the lair seem more "lively". He had made his own pizzas for each party member, some not as gross even as they usually were.

While his family was getting ready, Leo sat in his room, trying to ignore the slight jitters he felt. He scoffed at his nervousness; he could take on death but attending a party was terrifying. Maybe it was that he hardly knew anyone, but he thought it was just that he didn't particularly even like the party comers. Sure they were allies, but that was all he thought of them as. He mused at least he would have Casey to hang out with since the human teen didn't really know any of the mutants, and probably wouldn't get along with either.  
d  
The loud rapping on his door startled him out of his thoughts. "Come on Leo! Get out here before our guests show up!" Mikey yelled. Leo heard his brother's footsteps recede before heaving a sigh and slowly standing. He really didn't want to do this.

April had come in first with her father in tow, both wearing matching smiles as they greeted the turtles and Splinter. Next came Kurtzman with the Mighty Mutanimals in tow. Mikey had immediately run to give Leatherhead a hug while Donnie and Rockwell had started teasing and arguing with each other. Raph greeted Slash with a large smile and Pigeon Pete with annoyed huff. Leo and Slash sent a quick look each other's way before turning their attention away. Leo was given slight satisfaction at that. He greeted the other mutants with a nod of his head in acknowledgement while he shook Kurtzman's hand.

Each party member quickly formed small groups. April, Donnie, and Rockwell had sat in the kitchen, while Mikey and Leatherhead stood close by, near the food of course. Raph, Slash, and Pete had gotten comfortable on the couch to talk. Even Splinter, Kurtzman, and Mr. O'Neill had formed a small group to chat. Immediately Leo felt left out, not knowing what to do. Joining the others seemed to awkward for him. And he still didn't know where Casey was.

The eldest turtle was about to ask April, however awkward that may be, when the red-headed girl's phone suddenly buzzed. She opened it up and frowned. "Look's like Casey won't be joining us." She said. "He says he's got hockey practice." Leo's heart sank. Now he really felt out of place. Donnie shrugged, his eyes brightening a bit, but no one else seemed to care much.

Looking around, the blue-clad turtle lightly sighed. Mustering of all of his ninja skills, he snuck of the lair unnoticed. If he wasn't going to enjoy this "party", then there really was no reason he should stick around.

Running across the rooftops, Leo heaved a relieved sigh as his nervousness ebbed away.

As much as he loved his brothers, he just couldn't handle large groups. Especially ones made up of former enemies and just strange characters. He mused that Splinter would scold him for leaving so rudely and his brothers would complain (or whine in Mikey's case) but that didn't faze him as he sped towards his destination.

The blue-clad turtle was incredibly glad he had been to the ice rink Casey practiced at. Landing on the building, Leo glanced inside through one of the multiple windows. He immediately saw his dark-haired friend hitting a puck and throwing his hands in the air as the puck sailed into the goal. With a roll of his eyes, the turtle slowly lifted the hatch on one of the windows and slipped in, not alerting the human below. Unable to hide the sly grin that spread on his face, Leo quietly leaped off the beam and landed near one of the doors leading out of the rink. He tiptoed by the stands, barely stifling a laugh as he snuck up behind the unsuspecting teen, who was wiping off his hockey stick.

"BOO!"

Casey whirled around with a very girly shriek and swung his stick out. Leo barely managed to dodge the sloppy attack and started laughing. Casey stared at him, bewildered, before frowning and crossing his arms. "Not cool, blue."

Leo tried to stop his laughing to answer with a _Oh yes it was!_ but couldn't contain himself and he fell over onto his shell. Slowly sitting up, but still huffing a bit, the turtle have the pouting Casey a lopsided smile. "You should have seen your face."

"You can be a real jerk you know." Casey said. "Almost as bad as Raph."

Leo rolled his eyes and stood up. "If I was Raph, I would still be laughing."

Casey couldn't help the smile that came to his face. "I guess that's true."

The two awkwardly stood, not sure what to say. Leo cleared his throat before he started to pout. "Well you deserved it. I had to sit at the little get together in the lair by myself, waiting for you to show up." He placed his hands on his hips. "Then April gets a text that you aren't coming and I had to sneak out. Now I'll probably get whined at for leaving."

Casey rubbed the back of his head as he sheepishly grinned. "Yeah sorry bout that. I had some extra hockey practice tonight to get ready for a game coming up soon."

Leo looked around. "So where's the rest of the team?"

"Uh, I stayed late." Casey said after a slight pause.

The turtle narrowed his eyes. "You're just making up that you have hockey practice aren't you?"

Casey's eyes widened. "What?" He shook his head quickly, too quickly for Leo's taste. "No way man! I'm not scared of those mutants!"

Leo raised a nonexistent brow. "Oh really? I don't remember claiming you were afraid of them. I simply said you made up hockey practice. Unless I'm missing something?"

The dark-haired teen looked down. "Sorry Leo."

The blue-clad turtle bit his lip, surprised at the human's sudden guilt. He placed a hand on Casey's shoulder, making the teen look up. "Don't feel bad about it Case. I didn't want to be there either."

Casey rolled his eyes, regaining his usual spunk. "Well I can see that. So why did you leave then? I don't take you as the type to be afraid of those mutants."

"It's not that I'm afraid of them, yeah. I, well." The turtle hesitated. "I just don't trust them I guess."

The human nodded. "How come?"

"Well, seeing how Slash tried to kill me, Donnie, and Mikey, I think that's pretty self-explanatory." He felt some reassurance at Casey's nod of understanding. "And then you've got Rockwell, a mutant monkey we met once back when he wasn't really anything but a monkey. Now all of a sudden we meet this psychic monkey with an attitude problem. There's Leatherhead, who's not bad but can get pretty scary when he's angry. I don't know if you've seen him at his angriest but whatever you do, don't make him mad. He'll grab your face and shake you around." Casey's eyes widened slightly.

"Well I happen to like my face." He said with a cheeky grin.

Leo nodded with a smirk. "And lastly you've got Pete. Some strange mutant pigeon-human that will do anything for bread crumbs. I don't think anything else has to be said."

Casey laughed. "Yeah, I really don't blame you for not liking them much. They're a real bunch of freaks."

Leo raised a brow, making Casey shake his hands. "N-no I didn't mean you!" He stuttered. Leo continued to stare at him for a minute before bursting out laughing.

"Jeez Case, I get what you mean." The blue-clad turtle teased. He placed his hands on his hips with a smirk. "You get worked up too easily." He suddenly shivered and lost his smirk. "But jeez it's so cold in here."

Casey frowned. "I guess it can get kinda cold in here, but it's not as bad as it usually is."

Leo scoffed. "That's cause I'm a reptile. Y'know cold-blooded?"

"Oh right." The human teen said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Why don't we play a round of hockey to warm up?"

The blue-clad turtle shook his head. "Casey you realize I've never played hockey and have no idea how it works right?"

"So? I can teach you."

Casey could tell Leo still wasn't convinced. "Alright, well how's your balance?"

Leo crossed his arms. "Seriously Case?"

"Hey, it's a justified question." He said with his arms raised slightly. "And your aim?"

Casey sweat dropped at the turtle's glare. If looks could kill...

Leo rolled his eyes. "So can we just get started now or what?" Casey smiled, and went right into explaining the rules to Leo. The blue-clad turtle listened intently, curious as to what this "hockey" sport was all about and why his human friend loved it so much. To his surprise, Casey seemed pretty excited about having him there. Casey merely said Raph had never agreed to playing hockey or even learning about the sport. (To which Leo decided he should have a short talk with his younger brother.)

"So do you want to start a game right out or practice moving around on the ice first?" Casey asked.

Leo shrugged. "I guess I should probably move around on the ice first since I've never been on it before."

Casey nodded and watched his turtle friend slowly move across the ice. Leo appeared hesitant at first with his arms slightly raised out for more balance. To Casey's surprise, it didn't take Leo long before the turtle was moving across the ice with a relatively good form. He had only slipped a couple of times before taking off the wrappings on his feet so they wouldn't trip him. When the turtle started trying to perform tricks, Casey decided to start up the game. He really didn't want his reptilian friend showing off that much.

With a hockey stick in each teenager's right hand, Casey dropped a puck down and hit it towards the opposite goal. Leo immediately caught it and swung his stick to hit it back. The two moved across the ice rapidly and managed to play several tough matched before tiring out. Their score ended up 3-2 with Casey in the lead, much to the turtle's annoyance.

"Alright Kyōjin, one more round."

Casey laughed. "Alright. If you really want to lose that badly."

With a hard smack, Casey hit the puck which went sailing over the turtle's head. "I got it!" Leo yelled attempting to run after it. Unfortunately, he slipped and went crashing over the banister with a yelp.

"Leo!" Casey exclaimed, skating quickly over to where Leo had fallen. Looking down at his friend, Casey had to cover his mouth with his free hand to stifle his laughter. Leo didn't appear to amuse as he scowled up at the human. The poor turtle had flipped onto his back after his fall, crashing between the banister and front row of seats.

"This is not funny Casey." He growled. To his annoyance, Casey continued laughing.

"Oh but it totally is blue! You should see yourself right now!"

Leo crossed his arms and let out a huff, waiting for the black-haired teen to stop laughing. "You realize I'm stuck right?"

Casey wiped away a stray tear. "Yeah whatever you say man. If only I had a camera right now."

The turtle decided not to mention his t-phone was sitting beside his katanas that he had taken off before skating across the ice. "No seriously Case, my shell is wedged between these seats and wall."

"Yeah yeah fine. Just a sec." Casey said as he swung himself over the banister and grabbed Leo's hands. "On the count of three." He readied himself. "One, two, three!" He pulled up with a grunt, making the turtle hiss out in annoyance.

"That didn't work except to almost pull my arms out of their sockets." Leo grumbled, glaring at Casey.

"Well then I'll try something else." Casey said, then moving to attempt to free the turtle again. He once again grabbed Leo's hands and pulled him sideways. "I think it's working."

Leo ground his teeth together as his shell scraped along the banister. He was going to have words with this human later.

With a final tug, Casey fell backwards as Leo became unstuck. He let out another laugh, only quickly shutting his mouth at the sharp glare turned his way. "It worked?" He said nervously.

Trudging back into the lair, Leo quickly looked around to see that no one was there. He gave a soft sigh walking in, noticing his brothers sleeping by each other on the couch. He was surprised to even see Splinter resting nearby. Leo gave a slight shake of his head as he headed towards his room. His feet might've been slightly sore, his shell a bit scraped, and a future runny nose no doubt going to happen, but he wouldn't trade his night for the world.

**Don't forget to leave a review if you'd like to suggest something or if you just liked it. And if you really liked it, go ahead and favorite or follow. More should be coming soon. :3**


	5. Comfort

**Been awhile since I've done one of these huh. *coughcoughmorethanayearcough* Anyway I decided to do one for the space arc just cause, though I will admit it's not my favorite from the series. And of course I know the show is for kids and whatnot but still, these guys should be pretty depressed right? And so I made a sad oneshot for these two cause why not. Enjoy.**

Space was cold. No place for a cold-blooded reptile like himself. The Fugitoid never had to bother keeping the ship running very warm, seeing how he was a robot, but thankfully had quickly realized more heat would need to be circulated around with the four reptilian brothers.

Space was also incredibly vast. No ends or corners in sight. It definitely felt adventurous drifting around the dark abyss, something he had always dreamed of when he first became enamored with Captain Ryan. But now it left him uneasy.

Leo was used to having a set goal and accomplishing it with the help of his brothers. Stop some of Shredder's evil schemes? Done. Stop the Kraang? Done and done. But now? The Triceratons had _destroyed_ Earth. It was _gone_. And now the six teenagers along with a robot were forced to set out and stop the Triceratons before they did it again. Because whether they won or lost against them, in the end the team had already lost. They had already failed. He had already failed. He had watched his home disappear and his father impaled, all while hearing his brothers cry.

Being the eldest and leader of the team had always been difficult, but now it seemed like too much. The consequences of failing were crushing him, and he couldn't share the weight even if he wanted to. Hamato Yoshi's death instantly made Leo, the second eldest in the family, leader of the Hamato Clan. The thought terrified him and he wasn't even sure if his brothers realized the insinuations of what their father's death meant. Other than the gaping hole in his heart.

So the blue-clad turtle hid all of his fears so his brothers wouldn't have to bear anymore of their own. He issued orders as "Captain", as his brothers called him, and tried to keep a smile on his face for their sakes. But in the dark of night, when everyone was sleeping nearby, he let the smile crumble away and the dark thoughts penetrate his mind.

* * *

It was probably two weeks into their space excursion when the blue-clad turtle found himself confiding his fears, entirely by accident as it was. Leo finished up in the training room, facing holograms that seemed all too familiar. It seemed as if it was late at night, but with space always being dark it was hard to tell. The turtle slowly trudged towards the living area on the ship, hoping his brothers wouldn't realized just how exhausted he was, when he heard something soft. He stopped in his tracks, listening. He heard the loud laughs of Raph and Mikey at whatever they were watching, and the quieter chatter of Donnie and April discussing something. But there was something else. A sniffle?

Quietly, as only a ninja could, Leo crept into the bridge of the ship. He noticed the Fugitoid wasn't there, probably doing something in the engine room. But then what was... Another sniffle and Leo noticed a hunched up figure, staring out into space. He felt his heart drop. In the time he had known Casey Jones, never had he seen the older boy cry. The dark-haired teen would boast and tease but never show anything akin to sadness. But now...

Leo walked closer, but hesitated when he was a few feet away. Should he say something? This seemed awfully private and he had never been great at cheering people up...

"Are you just going to stand there or what?" Casey's voice startled Leo and the turtle jumped. But surprise quickly ebbed into concern. His voice seemed so broken.

The blue-clad turtle sat by his friend's side, noting the tear stains and bloodshot eyes of the human. Casey rubbed his eyes, and sniffled again. He turned away from the turtle. Leo didn't know what to say. What was there to? So he tentatively wrapped an arm around the other teen's shoulders and pulled him into a half-hug. Casey didn't respond, but Leo wasn't expecting him to.

They sat there for several minutes, before Leo quietly started to speak. "I woke up that morning feeling invincible. Like nothing could stop me." He paused, but Casey didn't respond. Leo gave his shoulder a small squeeze. "It seemed like a nice day too. I think that's why things got so bad. Because I wasn't expecting anything like what happened." The turtle stopped, his father's death flashing before his eyes and making his eyes water. He faintly noticed his hands beginning to shake as he fought to contain his tears.

"I never got to say good-bye..." Casey's voice startled the turtle again. He heaved a shake sigh before leaning closer to the turtle. "I couldn't save them..."

Leo shook his head. "None of us were ready for what happened." Silence reigned over the two once again as they huddled together for comfort. The wounds, though not physical, of that day still felt raw and burned into their souls.

Casey sniffled again. "I know what we're doing now is to stop what happened, but it already happened. We saw it happen. I don't think I can forget that."

The blue-clad turtle let out a weak laugh. "I don't think we're supposed to. We couldn't save anyone and now we're six months back in time trying to stop what we saw already happen. It's just..." The words trailed off as a tear slid down his cheek. "It's just too much."

"Yeah. I'm afraid I'll never see my dad's or sister's faces again. I don't think I can live without em."

Leo shivered. "I'm afraid we'll get back to Earth and see Splinter...killed again. I know I've got my brothers and I'm so glad the four of us are all okay but I...I just..." The tears started flowing freely. "I'm just so scared Casey that we won't be able to stop the Triceratons from taking everything away again. I'm not ready to live without my father. I'm not ready to follow into his footsteps." He buried his face into his hands, Casey's concerned gaze burning into his scalp. "How am I supposed to lead all of you into what could just be another failure?"

"You won't." Leo froze. Slightly turning to meet Casey's gaze, but the older teen was staring sadly into space. "You won't," He repeated. "because you've never let any of us down before and I know you won't start now." He gave the turtle his usual lopsided smile, but the usual cheekiness was gone, instead replaced by sorrow. "It'll be hard, but I think we have a shot at stopping those dinosaur freaks this time. We just have to remember what we'll lose if we don't."

Leo sniffled, wiping away his tears. He leaned against Casey, who wrapped an arm around his cold shoulders. "Thanks Kyōjin."

Casey gave him a comforting squeeze. "Anytime Blue."


End file.
